


Marlene Remembers Aerith the Most

by Nessa (Vaneeka)



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-10 23:36:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4412303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vaneeka/pseuds/Nessa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If you ask Marlene Wallace what she remembers about Meteorfall, she would answer, “Papa was a hero!” Her wide brown eyes would light up as she regales you with exaggerated stories of trains, buggies, and airships, tales tweaked just enough to protect her from the nightmares with which her heroes still wrestled.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Marlene Remembers Aerith the Most

If you ask Marlene Wallace what she remembers about Meteorfall, she would answer, “Papa was a hero!” Her wide brown eyes would light up as she regales you with exaggerated stories of trains, buggies, and airships, tales tweaked just enough to protect her from the nightmares with which her heroes still wrestled.

She might tell you about Wedge, whom she barely remembers, who told her bad jokes and sometimes brought her candy when he wasn’t on a mission with Papa. Or Biggs and Jessie, who would show her their flashy toys, but not the dangerous ones.

She might mention Cloud, who scared her a little bit, at first, with his cool eyes and his huge sword, but proved nice enough when he silently presented her with a tiny flower as yellow as his hair.

She may not say much about the others; she knows Nanaki was there, and Cid and Vincent and Yuffie and Cait Sith and Reeve (who might have been the same person as Cait Sith, but she didn’t believe that) but she only knows them peripherally - grown up friends of her Papa’s who helped save the world.

She won’t say much about the pretty flower girl and her mother who kept her safe when the Shinra destroyed her home, the collapse of the sector seven plate as real and terrifying as any meteor. Instead, she grows out her dark hair, asks Tifa to teach her how to braid it. One day, she asks Papa for a simple, pink ribbon and wears it every day. She goes to the old church and smells the white and gold lilies, but she doesn’t speak of the woman who cared for them.

Sometimes, (and she wouldn’t tell you this, but she remembers it well) Marlene dreams of red skies, raining fire and debris, the cold laughter of something inhuman and otherworldly chilling her heart. But it doesn’t last, always replaced by soothing green rivers, warm and welcoming, and the smell of flowers.


End file.
